


Sabbath Day

by Checkerdance



Category: Better Call Saul (TV)
Genre: Backstory, Cute story with some innuendos, Fluff, Lalo being a tease, M/M, Nacho dealing with his chicanery, Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:40:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23257060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Checkerdance/pseuds/Checkerdance
Summary: What if Nacho and Lalo had one day to themselves? What kind of things would they do? Where would they go? This fic is a little story about Lalo and Nacho’s day off together :)
Relationships: Eduardo "Lalo" Salamanca/Ignacio "Nacho" Varga
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	Sabbath Day

The sky happened to be cloudless today.

The sun sat in the middle of the sky, screeching its rays of heat upon anyone who dared to step outside on this scorching day. No clouds were available to cover up the sun, so every organism was susceptible to sunburns and dehydration.

Ignacio regretted wearing his black polo shirt. He swore he could feel the fabric soaking in the heat from the sun. He wanted to stick his head into the ground like an ostrich to feel the cold underground air. At one point, he considered taking off the shirt, but that would be too humiliating. He also wanted to pour water from his plastic bottle all over his body, but if Lalo saw that, well...it would ruin his image of Nacho and it would certainly be an interesting sight.

Nacho leaned against his car and growled under his breath. He took a swig of water from his bottle, letting the cold water wash down his throat. Lalo was supposed to meet him outside El Michoacáno. The pair weren’t supposed to collect money today, but Lalo ordered Nacho to meet him outside the restaurant at noon for some reason. Nacho took a peek at his lustre watch. It read “1:12pm”.

Nacho used his right sleeve to wipe off the sweat droplets forming on his forehead. As much as he wanted to leave, he could not ditch his post, due to obvious reasons. He could have waited inside the restaurant, but the Air Conditioner was still broken, which was unfortunately Nacho’s fault. Besides, with the chef cooking hot food inside, that restaurant would be more blazing than outside.

_Well, that’s Karma for breaking the AC._

After 10 more grueling minutes of waiting, and doodling Picasso like drawings into the sand with his shoe, he heard a car pull up to the parking lot.

“Finally…” He hissed under his breath.

The car’s engine stopped and a bedraggled and unkempt looking Lalo stepped out of the car. Streaks of blood were painted around the corners of Lalo’s flowery shirt. Nacho was taken aback and watched Lalo stride over to him, rubbing his fists against his black pants

“Hola, Nacho. Sorry I’m late, I ran into some trouble back at the racetrack.”

Nacho said nothing. Of course, blood was something Nacho witnessed everyday. How could he not? He’s deep in the game. Everything in his life is about blood, guns, drugs, and death. He hadn’t seen Lalo get his hands dirty before, so seeing him bloody made Nacho’s gut squirm with unease. Especially since Lalo was always energetic and charismatic, he found this sight even more disturbing.

Lalo snatched the water bottle from his hands and poured it onto his bloodied shirt. He took two parts of the shirt and rubbed them together.

“This better come out! I got this from my abuelita.”

Nacho continued to blankly stare, until Lalo finally got the blood stains out. He huffed with pride and rubbed his hands together.

“Alright, so I was planning on visiting my uncle today with you…”

_Oh god, not again._ Nacho thought grimly.

Every time he saw Hector bound to that wheelchair, he was always struck with fear and paranoia. What if Hector somehow figured out that it was him who almost killed him? What if Hector somehow figured out and told all of his nephews?

“...but apparently, according to Marco and Leonel, he isn’t feeling well today. I’m not sure what happened exactly, but the doctors are going to take another look at him. So, we won’t be able to visit him.”

Lalo placed the empty water bottle on top of Nacho’s car. Nacho took this as a sign of authority from Lalo’s end. Placing garbage on top of Nacho’s valuable car? That couldn’t mean anything good for him.

_He has something planned today, doesn’t he? He’s not just going to let me go like this._

Lalo had a pair of sunglasses clung onto his shirt. He swiped them and placed them on his face.

“Well, since our plans have been cancelled, I guess we have a day off, eh?” Lalo exclaimed brightly. “

Nacho recoiled as he watched Lalo slowly saunter up to his own car. He turned and signaled with his head for Nacho to come over.

“Come on! I know you have the time, Nachito.” He called tauntingly.

_No, I really don't._

Nacho began to worry. If Gustavo Fring called during this...outing, then how will he explain his sudden need to leave? He tried to think of an excuse to get out this, but there wasn’t anything valid. There was no way he was going to mention his father, so he didn’t have anything to say to oppose Lalo’s invitation. Still, Nacho stayed where he was.

“Where are we going?” He demanded.

Blood rushed to his face. He didn’t mean for his tone to sound so harsh and defiant.

Lalo’s lip twitched for a second, before a sly smile grew on his face. He opened the door to the driver’s seat before saying,

“That’s a secret. But don’t worry, we’re going to have fun.”

He lifted up his glasses to reveal his eyes. They had a faint glow to it.

“Now, get in.”

That last bit came out sharp and strident. Lalo wasn’t asking.

Lalo flicked the sunglasses down onto his face and dipped his head into the driver's seat and entered. Nacho sighed and ambled over to his black car. He opened the door to the passenger seat and quickly snapped his seatbelt in. Lalo buckled up his own seatbelt and started the engine. He rolled all of the windows down, which disappointed Nacho. Of course, it would relieve him of the heat, but AC would have been much better. He suddenly noticed blood stains on his seat. Some stains looked ancient, while others seemed newer.

“You’re not afraid of a little blood, are you?”

Lalo’s voice slightly startled Nacho. He didn’t think Lalo would notice him eyeing the blood stains. Nacho simply looked at him and shook his head, not bothering to answer his question that seeped with mockery.

“Lighten up, hermano! Your shoulders are so tense. It’s not like I’m taking you to a dungeon or something.”

Honestly, he wouldn’t be surprised if he did. If somehow Lalo found out that he was the cause of his uncle’s medical downfall, he would do anything to make sure Nacho suffered horribly. Was he luring Nacho into a false sense of security, before inevitably killing him? What if his dad was waiting to be slaughtered as well? He felt like puking right then and there.  
Despite the dark thoughts, Nacho relaxed his muscles and leaned back into his chair. He’d do anything to make Lalo shut up right now. He watched Lalo fumble around with his radio. Every station seemed to have a song that disinterested Lalo. He grunted with disapproval and gave up. This gave some Nacho some hope to have at least a minute or two of silence until,

“Paca paca paca en mi caballo...paca paca paca en mi caballo…”

This wouldn’t be a normal car ride with Lalo without any singing. Nacho squirmed slightly in his seat. Even though the tune of Lalo’s song was upbeat, there was a hint of threat in his voice. It was as if he was saying, “I may sound happy and ditzy right now, but you better not cross me, or I will gouge your eyes out with my kitchen knife.” At least, that’s what Nacho interpreted.

Nacho always wondered what his fate would be in this hot mess. He knew there was a high chance that he wouldn’t come out of this alive. All he ever wanted was to run away with his father and live in peace with him. If Nacho couldn’t get out of this alive, he just wanted his father to live the happiest life he could. Adding Lalo to this equation of doom wasn’t helping his circumstances either. The man was highly unpredictable! Nacho found it impossible to read his face and interpret what he was thinking.

Nacho gazed out of the window and tried to look outside to see what road Lalo was driving on. The sun was piercing into Nacho’s eyes and he winced dramatically. Before he could process anything, Lalo turned the car sharply. Nacho’s body jerked towards Lalo, and his head bumped onto his elbow. Nacho could feel the hairs on his body rise as he turned to look at him. Lalo just chuckled.

“Ah, that was a sharp turn wasn’t it?”

What was his game? Did this tiny screw-up mean anything to Lalo, or is he really playing it off as if it was nothing? Nacho responded with a half-hearted scoff. Lalo turned the steering wheel once more, and he drove the car into a small parking lot. He turned off the engine and snapped the key out of the hole.

“Well, we’re here! Let’s go.”

Nacho took a deep breath and the two of them stepped out of the car simultaneously. Nacho scanned his surroundings. They were in a little strip mall. His breathing became more relaxed.

_A public place. Good._

The two of them traipsed along the sidewalk that surrounded the strip mall. Lalo laughed and looked now at Nacho.

“Are you ready for the big reveal? You’ll love this place!”

His eyes twinkled brightly, as if he was a kid in a candy store. Nacho looked at him awkwardly and nodded.

“Yeah, I guess.”

They stopped walking in front of a small building. Nacho looked up to read the sign. Even with the sun blinding his eyes, he managed to make out the words,

“Namaste Bowling Club.”

_Bowling. Lalo brought me out here...for bowling._

Lalo shot him another luminous smile.

“That’s right, bowling! You ever played?”

“Uh, in a way.” Nacho responded, averting his stare.

“I don’t know what the hell that’s supposed to mean, but hey, I’ll take it.”

Lalo shrugged as he took off his sunglasses and slipped them into his back pocket. While he did that, Nacho wouldn’t help but notice the gun sticking out from his pants.

Ignacio Varga has never been to the bowling lanes before, but when he was a kid, he and his brothers invented a game similar to bowling. Back then, Nacho and his family were poor, and when it came to having fun, they had to get a little bit creative. They would stack up small pieces of logs upright on the ground. The boys would use a melon as a bowling ball and roll it on the ground to see how many logs they could knock down. Nacho vividly remembered his dad screaming at him because the melon exploded once when Nacho rolled it into a tree. Papa Varga was enraged because they had just wasted a perfectly good melon. It was a waste of food and less bellies would be filled. Ever since then, he never played that game again.

The two of them entered. Immediately, Nacho was welcomed with a hug of fresh, air conditioned air. He huffed in satisfaction and followed Lalo through the building. They walked past the reception desk, without talking to the small elderly man sitting there, clearly on edge by their presence. Nacho concluded that Lalo bought out the place for a day and had access to whatever he wanted. That would explain why nobody else was in the building. 

When they arrived at the bowling lanes Nacho asked, with the tiniest hint of amusement.

“Did you...really buy the place out?”

Lalo walked over to the metal strip that held the bowling balls and picked up a bright pink ball with two hands. He turned his head and chortled lightly, his white teeth flashing from his gaping mouth.

“Yeah, I did. Can’t have other people ruining the mood for our game. Plus, if it gets too intense, we wouldn’t want anybody to get hurt.”

What was that supposed to mean? Were they gonna end up breaking each other's bones with 15 pound bowling balls?

Lalo’s voice sounded rough and monotone, as if he was joking around, with a hint of threat yet again. Lalo shifted the ball so that only his right hand was holding it.

“I’ll go first. Before I throw, do you need me to explain the rules?”

Okay, now that was definitely a mocking tone.

“No, I know the rules.” Nacho shot back carefully.

Lalo’s head tipped to the side slightly as he leered competitively. He turned his head to face the bowling lane and eyed the pins. He straightened his spine and took a step forward. He swung his arm low to the ground and proceeded to chuck the ball. The ball landed smoothly on the lane. It landed onto the right side of the line, but it slowly curved towards the middle. It crashed into the middle pin, causing all of the other pins to go down with it.  
Lalo bit his lip with pride and turned to face Nacho, who was stiffly watching him from behind. Lalo flashed him a toothy grin.

“Woo! Beat that, hotshot! Think you can do it? It’s your turn Varga, get up there!”

Lalo stepped off the ledge and punched Nacho’s shoulder. Nacho sighed before slowly stepping up to the lane. He grabbed a ball and stared at the new set of pins in front of him.

It was quiet. Nacho’s heartbeat rapidly increased, thundering violently in his chest. He could feel Lalo’s burning eyes sear into his skin. Nacho felt his eyes narrow and his blood boil. Lalo wanted to feel satisfaction and success by outplaying Nacho. Nacho couldn’t give him that. He couldn’t let Lalo feel like he was more powerful and superior than him. How else was he going to earn his trust if Nacho acted like a helpless little boy?

Nacho’s going to get straight to the point. He’s not going to curve the ball, but he’s going to throw it straight down the lane. No games, no tricks, unlike Lalo. He’s going to get the job done swiftly.

He closed one eye and took a step. He straightened his elbow and bent his body low to the ground before releasing the ball. Like Lalo’s, the ball smoothly drove down the lane. No wobbling, no shaking. The ball perfectly rolled straight down the lane, before crashing into the pins, as they all fell down.

Nacho felt the corner of his lips rise up in a smile. He turned and met Lalo’s stare.

“Yeah, I think I can do it.” He replied, stepping down the ledge.

Lalo’s eyebrows raised and he clapped his hands.

“Wow! What a throw! So skillful…!”

Nacho could tell his voice wasn’t very genuine. He walked over to Nacho and pulled out a black cloth from his pant pocket. Nacho swallowed as Lalo continued,

“Looks like our bowling skills are equal. I guess we’ll try something else.”

He used two fingers to life up Nacho’s face. Nacho’s instincts kicked in and his hand jerked to the back of his pants, where his gun was. He quickly stopped himself, and let his arm go limp at his side. If he were to ever take out his gun, Lalo would probably kill him there. He felt his face flush. Lalo’s fingers were so cold.

“What are you-”

“Shh, you’ll see!”

Lalo placed the black cloth around Nacho’s eyes and tied it around his face. Nacho’s bottom lip curled with anxiety. Lalo guided him to the lane again and swung an arm around his shoulder.

“We’re going to do this…?”

“Yep! Blindfolded!”

_Of course. Always twisting things._

“Uh...alright. Hand me the ball then.”

Lalo chuckled and released his shoulders. Nacho felt a heavy weight on his chest as Lalo handed him the ball. Nacho took it and took a few steps forward, careful not to cross the line on the lane.

“Goodluck!” Lalo called from behind him.

He couldn’t see the pins. He didn’t even know if he was standing in the middle of the lane, like he would’ve liked too. He traced the floor with his foot to see if he could feel any ridges or something. Nothing, of course. The ledges were always smooth and slippery. That’s what bowling shoes were for, so you wouldn’t slip and fall.

Nacho growled under his breath. There was nothing he could do. This time, he had to rely on luck to knock all of the pins down. Nacho threw the ball the same way as he did last time. He waited for a few heartbeats before hearing the ball crash into the pains. He quickly untied his blindfold to see how many pins he knocked down. Four out of ten.

“Ohh Nachito. Not very good.” Lalo tutted, wagging his finger.

Nacho raised an eyebrow discreetly as if to say “let’s see you do better”. He watched the pins reset themselves back up as he handed the cloth to Lalo.

“Good luck.” Nacho muttered sarcastically.

Lalo’s usual smirk looked more strained. His competitive side was taking over, and he wasn’t used to Nacho’s sass. Lalo made his way towards the lane before Nacho called out,

“Wait. Put it on here. I’ll guide you up there. You did that with me, it’s only fair.”

_God...what am I doing?_

Nacho felt like a child. Whining and pouting when he didn’t get his way. It kind of reminded him of what he was like as a child.

“Ah, you are right. Where are my manners?” Lalo answered, making his way back down from the lane.

He tied the cloth around his own eyes. Nacho stood beside and grabbed his arm, like a lady would with her gentleman.

“Ohh, what a ladies man.” Lalo teased in spanish.

Nacho swallowed and led him to the lanes. He released his arms and stood back to watch.

_Lalo must have done this before. He just wants to beat me at something, doesn’t he?_

Judging by Lalo’s stance, he seemed just as clueless as Nacho. Varga smirked at the helpless Lalo, as he rolled the ball flimsily down the lane. Lalo took the blindfold off, and counted how many pins were knocked down. Three out of ten. Nacho let out an accidental chuckle as Lalo bounded back to him.

“What’s with the laugh? I was just unluckier than you.” Lalo growled playfully.

“Sure. Your throw was quite wobbly though.” Nacho muttered, trying to stop himself from grinning.

Lalo sucked air through his teeth and rubbed his hands together.

“Hm, well I think it’s safe to say that our bowling skills are matched, no?” Lalo looked at his watch and then back at the elderly man sitting by the reception table. “Well, our time is up here! Let’s go, I’m hungry.”

Nacho’s ease began to fade away as his grin vanished. He felt tense again, like he did in the car ride. Although the more Nacho thought, the more relaxed he felt. Lalo never showed one sign of aggression, or any signs that he wanted to shoot Nacho in the face. It really did seem like Lalo was having fun. Nacho followed Lalo closely behind. He gave an awkward nod to the strained man behind the desk before exiting the building. The air was a lot cooler outside. The sky was covered in streaks or orange and pink. The evening had arrived.

“Ah, that was fun, wasn’t it?” Lalo piped up. “It really takes your mind off of all of the blood and death.”

Nacho didn’t really pay attention to what he was saying. He found himself staring at Lalo’s face. His eyes looked a lot more polished in the evening light and his skin had a more appealing complexion. He caught himself and quickly met his eyes.

“Yeah, I haven’t done anything like this in a long time. I always just feel trapped.”

“Trapped?” Lalo’s eyebrow raised. “What do you mean?”

_Shit._

“Just...everything feels cramped. Being holed up in that restaurant all the time, y’know?”

“Hm. Well ya better get used to it.” Lalo beamed.

The two of them visited a small ice cream parlour in the stripmall. The two of them ordered a mint chocolate chip cone, before sitting on the hood of Lalo’s car. Nacho began to nibble away at the chips, as he watched Lalo wolf down his cone quickly.

“You were that hungry?” Nacho asked, breaking the long silence between them.

Lalo peeled off sections of his waffle cone,

“Not really, this just takes really good!”

Nacho felt a drop of sweat trickle down his back. The air wasn’t as hot as it was this afternoon, but Nacho felt hotter than he did before. Lalo’s very presence made him flush all over. The memory of Lalo slowly tying the cloth over his eyes replayed in his head and that made his eyelashes flutter briskly.

_How can I be feeling this? This man...this man is no good. He probably has no problem snapping my neck if he has too. Snap out of it!_

Lalo finished the rest of his ice cream as he tossed his crumpled napkin on the ground. His head turned to face Nacho. Nacho’s lip twitched, unwilling to look at him. He knew what would happen if he did. He would be entangled in his gaze.

“I’m glad we had this day off. I got to know you better.”

Lalo’s voice was as smooth as silk. Nacho looked up at him and felt a surge of power. He had enough of Lalo’s toying around. He narrowed his eyes and finally spoke from his heart,

“What do you mean? I still don’t get the point of this. What’s your endgame here?”

Lalo’s eyebrows jumped in surprise.

“Whoa! Where is this coming from? C’mon, you’ve been looking at me like that all day as if I’ve pissed in your cereal or something. Not everything is about business and bloodbaths, Nachito. Sometimes, we can have a little fun once in a while.”

Nacho’s mind went blank. The way he was talking...his voice was so low and gruff. So alluring and hypnotizing. His gaze had a strong hold on Nacho. It locked his whole body, preventing him from looking at anything else.

Nacho blinked and his breath hitched, realizing Lalo had just kissed him. Lalo's hand lingered on his cheek before sliding it back. Nacho's mouth dropped slightly in awe and confusion. Confusing. Everything just felt confusing.

“Whoa...hey I-”

“Shh.” Lalo hushed. “It’s fine, I get it. I’m irresistible!”

He snickered, looking at Nacho’s flustered face.

“Wow, I managed to get the stone-cold Nachito to blush. It’s quite the honour!”

The confusion passed. Embarrassment flooded over Nacho and he scoffed sheepishly. He didn’t even know how to respond.

“Yeah. Congratulations.” Was all that came out.

\--

Lalo offered to drive Nacho back to El Michoacáno.

The car ride back was quiet. For the most part, Nacho fiddled around with his gold chain, while Lalo hummed a song to himself. Nacho wondered what would have happened if Gus were to have found out about this...incident. To Gus, Lalo was the enemy. If his double agent started fooling around with Lalo Salamanca, that would be an immediate death sentence for him and his father. But how would Gus ever find out? It’s not like Lalo would open his mouth and bark about it to him. Even right now, it seemed like Lalo forgot he even kissed him.

When Lalo arrived at Nacho’s residence, he leaned his head back on the driver’s seat.

“I hope you had fun.” He purred.

Nacho felt his body heat up again and he nodded.

“Yeah. I did...Thanks for the drive. And, uh, everything.” His lip quivered coquettishly.

Nacho unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out of Lalo’s car. The sky was now almost pitch black. He slammed the door closed. Lalo called out to him.

“Hey. Maybe next time, it’ll get more serious.”

And with that, he pulled out of the parking lot and raced off. The tires screeched loudly, echoing through the air. Nacho stood there, frozen. He stared out into the dark and silent road, before pressing his palm against his forehead. He began chuckling to himself for a good 30 seconds. If anybody saw him at this exact moment, they definitely would have thought he was a psychopath.

_Heh. Maybe I am. God...he sure knows how to kiss someone._

He made his way back to his own car and noticed the empty water bottle still on top of it. He took the bottle and held it in his hand. He was still too shaken and in shock to drive back home. He leaned back against his car and stared up into the shadowy sky.

It seems as if Nacho may have earned something more than Lalo’s trust today.

**Author's Note:**

> Note: The “Namaste Bowling Club” was inspired by an art piece on tumblr by “theo-p” :)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! <3


End file.
